THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE LEWIS & CLARK TRAIL HERITAGE FOUNDATION, INC.

Vol. 4 No. 3 JULY 1978

Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission

Adds Second Interpretive Center Honoring The Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Facility Dedicated April 16, 1978.

Lewis and Clark students and enthusi­asts traveling in Washington State may now visit two Lewis and Clark Interpre­tive Centers. Washington is the only state along the Expedition's Trail with two such facilities, and plans are for the addit ion of a third center at some future time.'

On October 10, 1976, the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, at Fort Canby State Park (Pacific County), Washing­ton, high atop Cape Disappointment, was dedicated. See WPO, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 1-4. It was at Cape Disappointment that t he exploring party first reached the shore of t he Pacific Ocean on November 18, 1805.2

April 16, 1978, was t he dedication date for the Sacajawea Interpretive Center, at Sacajawea State Park, near the city of Pasco (Fr anklin County ), Washing-

1. The Commission has long range plans to construct a Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at Clarkston (Asotin County), Wash­ington, at the Washington-Idaho stateline. When th.is project culminates, travelers follow­ing the Expedition's trail westward will en­counter the proposed Clarkston facility; will then proceed to the Sacajawea Center at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rive1-s; and finally arrive for the spectacular panorama of the rugged, scenic Pacific shore at the Cape Disappointment facility.

2. A speculation: This is the date documented in Clark's, Ordway's, Gass' and Whitehouse's [Newberry Library) journals. All report as did Clark that " ... Capt. Lewis and his party re­turned having [gone) around [and) passed Point Disappointment and some distance on the Main Ocian to the NW." [Thwaites; V. 3, p. 229). TherefOl'e, it may be assumed that Lewis's party may have seen the main ocean, but may not have visited the actual shoreline on November 16th or 17th [we have no Lewis journal). Gass in his journal when documenting

ton. The state park is located in south­eastern Washington at the junction of the Snake3 and Columbia Rivers. The in­terpretive facility occupies a prominent place in the park n ear the confluence of the two rivers.

SACAJAWEA STATE PARK

Th e point of land at t he j unction of t he Columbia and Snake Rivers in southeas-

the departure of Clark's party [Clark says: "At daylight . .. ") on November 18th wrote: "Capt. Clarke and ten men went down to Cape Disap­pointment, to get a more full view of the ocean; ... " [Gass/McKeehan; Ross & Haines Edition, p. 201.) It is a matter of interest that the Field brothers are indicated to have accompanied Lewis's earlier reconnaissance, and to have been with Cla1·k's party at the later date. [Th­waites; V. 3, pp. 222, 230.)

3. Students fo llowing the progress of the ex­ploring party in the journals which refer to this segment of the Lewis and Clark Trail may be­come confused. Today's Snake River was the Expedition's "Lewis River" (after Captain Lewis), and this designation appears in the journals along with other confusing nomencla­ture, in this instance the "Kimooenim" River (obviously of Indian origin). Elliott Coues in his 1893 annotation of the 1814 Biddle narra­tive developed from the journals discusses this geographic disorder. See Vol. 2, pp. 621-622, fn. 58; p. 635, fn. 12.

tern Washington State is one of great in­terest to students of Nor thwest h istory. Before the anival of the Lewis and Clark exploring party in October 1805, Indians used this vantage point as a camping ground. In August 1811, the Canadian geographer, David Thompson, of the Northwest Company of Canada visited the site. In the same year, David Stuart, a partner of John Jacob Astor's Ameri­can Company ascended the Columbia River to this point from that company's fur trading establishment at the estuary of th e river (presently Astoria, Oregon). Donald McKen zie, one of Astor's men, who t raveled overland, was in t he vicin­ity in 1812, and remained for sever al years, and in 1818 founded Fort Walla Walla at t he junction of the Columbia and Walla Walla Rivers, about 13 miles sou th and t'o t h e east of present Saca­jawea State Park. Peter Skene Ogden trapped in this area in the 1820's, and Jedediah Smith, the first white man to cross overland to California, and then travel from California to Oregon, in 1828, is known to have passed by this point when ascending the Columbia and trav­eling fa1ther north of its confluence with the Snake River. In 1879, the Northern Pacific Rail.road Company built the first railroad bridge across the Snake River. At the bridge terminus on the north shore of the Snake R iver, a town of 1500 people sprang up a lmost overnight, at t he very spot where th e Lewis and Clark Expedition camped 74 years earlier. The community was known as "Ainsworth", named for Captain J .C. Ainsworth, who was president of the Oregon Steam Navi­gation Compan y. The Community was short-lived, however, for in 1883, the Northern Pacific Railroad built a bridge across the Columbia River a few miles

(Continued on Page 5)

THE LEWIS AND CLARK TRAIL HERITAGE FOUNDATION, INC.

Incorporated 1969 under Missouri General Not-For-Profit Corpora tion Act IRS Exemption Certificate No. 501(C)(3) - Identification No. 51-01 8 7715

OFFICERS - EXECUTIVE COM MITTEE Gail S tens land, Preside nt Mitc he ll Doumit, 1st Vice-President P .O. Bo x 205 P .O. Bo x 8 Fort Benton, Montana 5 9442 Cathlam et, Wash ington 98612 Bob Sa indon. 2 nd Vice-Pres ident Irving W. Anderson, Secreta ry P.O. Box 481 P.O. Box 1405 Glasgow, Monta na 59230 lake Oswe go. Oregon 97034 Clarence H. Decker. Treasurer Haze l Bain, Membership S ecretary• P.O. Box 128 1g50 - 33 rd Avenue, No. 1 East Alton, Illinois 6 20 24 Longview, Washingt on 98632

•Appointed by the Executive Committee

Win. Clark Adreon St. Lo uis, Mis souri Dayton W. Canaday Pierre, Sout h Dakota Robert S. Chandler St. Louis, Missouri E. G. Chuinard. M.D. Tigard, Oregon Clarence H. Decker East Alt on, Illinois Mildred R. Goosman Omaha, Nebraska

D IRECTORS

Marcus J . Ware Lewis ton, Idaho

V. St rode Hinds, D.D.S . Sioux City, Iowa Clifford lmsland Seattle, Washington Donald Jackson Colorado Springs, Colorado E. E. MacGilvra Butte, Montana Shei la Robins on Cole harbor. North Dakota Ge orge H. Twene y S eattle , Washington

PAS T PRESIDENTS "Honorary Past President " E. E. "Boo" MacGilvra

Edwynne P. Murphy, 1970 St. Louis, Missouri E. G. Chuinard, M .D .. 1g71 Tigard, Oregon J o hn Greens lit, 1972 Lansing, Michiga n Lynn Burris, Jr .. 197 2-1973 Topeka, Kansas

Robert E. Lange, 1973-1974 Portland, Oregon Gary Leppert, 1974-19 75 Lewistown, Montana Wilbur P. Werner. 19 75 -19 76 Cut Ban k, Mo nta na Clarenc e H. Decke r. 1976-197 7 East Alton, Illinois

A BOUT THE FOUNDATION The purpose of the l ew is and Cla rk Trail He ritage Founda tion, Inc. , is to stimula te nat io na lly : pub lic inte rest in mmtters relat ing to the Lew is a nd Clark Expedit ion; the contribut io n s to American history made by th e expedition members; and events of time a nd place conce rning e nd following the expedition w hich are of historical import to our nation. The Founda tio n recog n izes the va lue of t ouriat ·orionted progra ms. a nd s u pport s act ivit i" which enhance the enjoyment end understanding of the Lewis and Clark story. The scope of the activiti11 o f the Fou ndmtion are broad a nd d iverse. and include invo lve me nt in purs ui ts w hich , in t he judge me nt of the Directors are , of historica l worth or contempo rary soc ial va lues, and commensura te with the he ritage o f Lewis a nd Clark. The activities of the Na tional Fou nda tion are intended to complime nt and s u pplemcm t those of s tate end local Lewis and Clark interes t grou ps. The founda tio n may appropria te ly reco gnize and honor ind ividuals or groups for : iUt works of distinction; achie ve m en t in the b road fi e ld of Le wis and Clark his torical researc h ; writing ; or d eeds which promote the general purpose a nd scope of ae tivi,t ies of the Fo unda tio n . Membershi p in the o rganiza tion com prises a b road spectrum o f l ewis and Clark e nthusiasts including Federal , State, a nd local government o fficia ls , h istorians. scholars. a nd others of w ide ranging Lewis and Clark interests. Office rs of the Fo undation are e lected from the membersh ip. The Annual Meeting of the Found at ion is t ra di t iona lly held during Augus t . t he birth month o f both Meriwether l e w is and William Clark , The meeting place is rota te d among the States. and to urs generally are arra nged to visit s ites in the area of the Annua l Meeting which have h istoric associat ion with the lewis and Clark Ell:pedit ion.

WE PROCEEDED ON

Is the o fficia l quarterly publication of the l ewis a nd Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc.

Wa Proceeded On de rives from the phrase which a ppears re peated ly in t he collective journals of t he fa mous Expedit ion . {See Vol. 1. No. 1, p. 1; Vol. 1, No. 4 , p. 1 .)

EDITOR Rohen E. Lange 5054 SW 26th Place Portland, Oregon 97201

Irving W. Anderson Donald Jacks on

BUSINESS MANAGER E. G. Chuinard, M.D. 3025 North Vancouver Avenue Portland, Oregon 97227

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul R. Cutrig ht Bo b Saindon

E. G. Chuinard, M.D. George H. Tweney

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President Stensland's Message May I take this opportunity to offi­cially invite our members and friends to a t tend the Foundation's Tenth An­nual Meeting at Vancouver, Washing­ton, and I trust that we shall have great participation.

The program, August 13-16, 1978, was detailed in the May (Vol. 4, No. 2) issue of We Proceeded On. I am very aware of the work that the Washing­t on Committee an d F ou ndation members in the "Evergreen" state have done, and the follow-up that will be necessary as we all see through to completion this most important an­nual activity of the Foundation.

I would like to review and update cer­tain Foundation goals and activities for a ll of ow· membership.

1. Membership: Collectively this is the key to the success of our Founda­tion. May I· encourage each and every member to work on this important area.

We are encouraged by the organiza­tion of new ent ities or chapters of our F oundation: T he Blue Mountain Ch apter (Wa lla Wa lla, Washing­ton-southeast Washington Stat e­northeast Oregon State) now number­ing 40 members, with Vi and Ray Forrest as the organizational leaders. And the Locust Hill Foundation (Charlottesville, Virginia and vicin­ity) with some 20 members, with Mi­chael Gleason as the organizer.

2. Communication Efforts: Our quar ­terly publication, We Proceeded On, speaks well for itself. With the recent formation of a "Publications Commit ­tee", we will sustain our very fine pub­lication efforts.

As your president, I have now syndi­cated fo ur issues of "President's Notes", which I send to Officer s, Directors, Committee Chairmen, etc. This effort hopefully will tie our exec­ut ive committee, directors, and state chairman more closely together .

3. Foundation Bronze Project: The Bob Scriver bronze "Meriwether Lewis and Our Dog Scannon" contin­ues to sell, and Committee Chairman Wilbur Werner investigates and seeks avenues for additional sales. As of now, we are "over the h ill" on this al­ready successful project - however complete success will be realized when all 150 bronzes authorized by the copyright are sold.

4. Commit tee Work: This is really the " key" to much of the success of our Foundation. We must be able to a t­tain many of our accomplishments via the committee system.

We Proceeded On, July 1978

I would like to take this opportunity to give credit to our present standing committees with a separate listing to­gether with the committee chairman's address (see below). This will allow in­dividuals with specific interests to confer with committee chairmen and their committees.

I encourage anyone interested to be in contact with me. Please be assured that I will respond. Often times your ideas need to be shared so that some day they will start to bear the fruits of achievement.

Please note my change of address. Ef­fective June 23, 1978, my mail should be directed to P.O. Box 205, Fort Ben­ton, Montana 59442. You may reach me by telephone: Home 406-622-5573; Business 406-622-3323.

Have a good summer, and again, I en­courage your participation and at­tendance at the T enth Annual Meet­ing.

Gail Stensland, President

News Notes

Foundation member Vivian Paladin, editor for Montana the Magazine of Western History, the quarterly publi­ca t ion of the Montana Historical So­ciety, has been nominated for the Horace Hart Award, which recognizes contributions to the field of graphic arts. Nominations and awards are given annually by the Education Council of the Graphic Arts Indus­try. Acting in behalf of the State of Montana, Governor Thomas L. Judge made the nomination and com­mented that Vivian Paladin has been editor of the Montana quar­terly magazine for the past twelve years and has been on the editorial staff for more than twenty years. He added that in his travels around the country, he finds that the historical publication " ... has become one of Montana's best ambassadors."

• • • A new member of the Foundation, Mark McCorkle, Fort Collins, Colo­rado, has been in correspondence with

Listing of Foundation Committees

WPO provides the following list of Standing Committees. Members may communicate with these various committees by addressing their letters to the chairmen a t the addresses shown.

AWARDS COMMITTEE:

Chairman: Wilbur P. Werner, P.O. Box 1244, Cut Bank, MT. 58427 Donald Jackson V. Strode Hinds

AD HOC WPO FUNDING - BRONZE PROJECT COMMITTEE: Chairman : Wilbur P. Werner, P.O. Box 1244, Cut Bank, MT 58427

E. E. "Boo" MacGilvra John G. Lepley

MISC. MDSE. SALES COMMITTEE:

Chairman : E. G. Chuinard, M.D. , 3025 N. Vancouver Ave., Portland, OR 97227 Frank Muhly Sheila Robinson Wilbur P. Werner Dr. & Mrs. J. P. Clawson

YOUNG ADULTS COMMITTEE:

Chairman: Bob Saindon, P.O. Box 418, Glasgow, MT 59230 Mr. & Mrs. Todd I. Berens Steve & Lynne Hinds Edrie L. Vinson Mrs. Mary Ann Amacker

FINANCIAL AND SPECIAL FUNDS COMMITTEE:

Chairman: Clarence H. Decker, P.O. Box 128, East Alton, IL 62024 Sheny R. Fisher Robert E. Lange Wilbur P. Werner

PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE:

Chairman: Donald Jackson, 3920 Old Stage Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80906 Robert E. Lange, Editor WPO E. G. Chuinard, M.D. Paul R. Cutright Wilbur P . Werner

We Proceeded On, July 1978 -3-

members along the Lewis and Clark Trail about his "North American Od­yssey". Mark left Fort Clatsop, Ore­gon on June 1, 1978, beginning a 3,300 mile retrace of the Expedition's Trail to Wood Rive1-, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. His journey will be by water, navigating the Columbia and Missouri Rivers, and overland, travel­ing the 450 miles of Lolo Trail, Bitter­root Valley, Lost Trail Pass, Salmon, Idaho country, Lemhi Pass, and other land routes in Idaho and Montana. McCorkle's present adventure is not new to his "r ediscovery of America". In 197!4, he bicycled 2,500 miles from Green Bay, Wisconsin to the Pacific coast. In 1975, he canoed 2,800 miles from Forsythe, Montana, via the Yel­lowstone, Missouri, and Mississippi Rivers, to New Orleans, Louisiana. Then in 1976, he hiked the 1,975 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican border to north of Mt. Rain­ier, Washington.

Mark will be putting together a little monthly newsletter describing his journey, and will be making pho­tographs of scenes along the Trail. Members or readers of WPO, who would like to receive his newsletter and an occasional photograph each month, may send $5.00 or more to Mark McCorkle, 1112 Columbine Ct., Apt. 2, Ft. Collins, CO 80521. Your do­nation will cover his publication ex­pense and help him meet other costs involved with his adventurous under­taking.

The editor had a delightful lunch hour and visit with this modern-day explorer on June 9th , when he reached Portland after a six day, 100 mile canoe paddle up the Columbia from the estuary. He was ready for a day 's rest and a chance to let the sun­burn cool off. The next morning he was "proceeding on" toward Beacon Rock, Bonneville Dam, and points up­stream on the Columbia River. He plans to arrive in Wood River, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri by October 1978.

• • • Foundation Director Mildred Goosman, Omaha, Nebraska, has advised the editor of the possibility that she may be able to arrange a visit and a possible inter­view with the great-grand niece of the Expedition's blacksmith, gunsmith, and general handyman, John Shields. She is a Mrs. Houston, who resides in Atchison, Kansas, and is reported to be over 80 years of age. If Mildred is able to arrange such an interview, she has promised WPO a vignette about her visit with Mrs. Houston.

* * * Foundation D irector E. G. "Frenchy" Chuinard , Portland, Oregon, has re -

ceived correspondence from, and has responded to, Dr. William Turnbaugh, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Rhode Island, Kingston. Dr. Turnbaugh advises that he has been " ... an avid student of the Lewis and Cla1·k Expedition." In 1977, he and Mrs. Turnbaugh traveled the Trail from St. Louis to the Pacific (Tillamook, Oregon) by automobile. His letter adds: "We are looking forward to retracing part of the route again this summer. In addition, I am doing some scholarly research on a couple of topics relating to the expedi­tion."

• * * Foundation Past President Wilbur P. Werner, Cut Bank, Montana, presented his Lewis and Clark Expedition slide lec­ture on Saturday, June 24th, to members of the Montana Women's Clubs, a t the organization's Annual State Convention, which was held at the hotel in Glacier National Pai'k.

• • • Foundation members are saddened to learn of the passing of Abby Kidwell, Pasco, Washington. A member of the Foundation, ' Mrs. Kidwell was a long­time resident of Pasco and Franklin County, Washington. Active in many southeastern Washington community organizations, she was President of the Franklin County Historical Society.

Especially interested in the history and heritage of the Lewis and Clark Expedi­tion, Mrs. Kidwell for many years was an active member of the group of individ­uals from northern Idaho and southeas­tern Washington, who were promoting the construction of a highway (often re­ferred to as a Lewis and Clark Highway) from Lewiston, Idaho to the Bitterroot Valley, south of Missoula, Montana. The proposed route was to follow the Clear­water and Lochsa Rivers through the Bitterroot Mountains and to the summit of Lolo Pass. The highway (Route 12) was completed in 1962, and is one of the scenic highways of the northwest. It is of special interest to followers of the Ex­pedition's Trail, since it parallels for most of its distance the old Lolo Trail used by Lewis and Clark, and the Indians before them, to transit this section of the Bitterroot Mountains.

Abby Kidwell died suddenly of a heart attack on April 17, 1978, the day follow­ing the dedication of the Sacajawea In­terpretive Center, neai· Pasco, Washing­ton. ~he had a key role as president of t he local historical society in the devel­opment of the Center , and was one of the speakers at the April 16th dedication ceremonies.

Many members of the Foundation who attended the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Foundation, in August 1975, at Bis­marck, North Dakota, will recall her friendly presence at that meeting.

Updating Lewis & Clark In Recent Periodicals

"The Assiniboines - Some Notes on the Assiniboine Indians Before Lewis and Clark: 1600-1800", is the title of a study by Bob Saindon ' in the cur­rent issue (Vol. II, No. 4, Spring 1978) of" ... A SQUAWL OF WIND ... ", the quarterly publication of the Val­ley County Lewis and Clark Trail So­ciety, Glasgow, Montana.

Author Saindon indicat~s that this article does not portray the modern Assiniboine Indians, but endeavors to simply represent these Indians as they were known to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The article is well illus­trated, and is annotated with copious notes.

• * *

Featured in the April issue (Vol. XXXIV, No. 3) of the BULLETIN, the quarterly publication of the Mis-

.. souri Historical Society, is the mono­graph: "William Clark's Struggle with Place Names In Upper Louisiana", by John Francis McDermott. Founda­tion member McDermott i s well known in the teaching and historical studies field, and is presently Profes­sor Emeritus, Southern Illinois Uni­versity, Edwardsville.

The treatise described above was read in briefer form at the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Lewis and Clai·k Trail Heritage Foundation, · August 1977, St. Charles, Missouri. Dr. McDermott remarks: "The Perversion of French Place-Names in the Mississippi Valley was never deliberate but it was often ludicrous and misleading and some­times perpetrated historical errors which have remained uncorrected .. . Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were from time to time unwittingly guilty of this kind of misnaming."

A copy of the issue of the Bulletin de­scribed above will be sent postpaid upon receipt of $2.50. Address your re­quest to Missouri Historical Society, J efferson Memorial Bldg., St. Louis, MO 63112.

1. Second Vice President, Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc.; Past Pres­ident, Valley County Lewis and Clark Trail Society; Editor, " ... a squaw[ of wind . .. ".

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Valley County Entity Reports From Montana

The recent issue of " ... a squawl of wind . .. ", t he publication of the Val­ley County Lewis and Clark Trail So­ciety, Glasgow, Montana, provides the following news items and activities re­lating to this organization:

At an election of officers and directors at the January meeting, Gladys Silk of Glasgow was elected president of the Society for 1978. A native of Val­ley County, Gladys has been a busy participant in community affairs, and as a reporter for the local newspaper, the Glasgow Courier, for the past twelve years, is very much aware of past, present, and planned future ac­tivities in Valley County and north­east Montana.

Other individuals elected to serve the Society include: Bunky Sullivan , Vice President; Donna Pecora, Secretary I Treasurer; and Annette Stensland and Bob Saindon, Directors. Also con­tinuing as directors are Linda Madson and Leanor Cotton. Bob Saindon, who is presently 2nd vice president of the national Foundation, will contin­ue as editor of the Society's publica­tion.

Achievements of the organization during Past President Saindon's ten­ure in office, including the inception of the publication " ... a squawl of wind . , .", are detailed in President Silk's "President's Message" which appears in the current issue of the publication.

A new project for the organization is the production of a Lewis and Clark applique quilt which will depict 18 dif­feren t scenes relating to the Expedi­t ion in Montana. The center section of the quilt will r eproduce a map of Montana detailing the routes of the exploring party in the " Treasure State". Field trips for the corning year are in the planning stage, together with preparations for a work party ac­tivity at the Stick Lodge under con­struction at the Pioneer Museum.

·Editor's Note: We would like to include in each issue of WPO, news items detailing current or forthcoming activities related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition in each of the eleven trail states, or for that matter, any activity anywhere that would be of interest to members and readers. To accomplish this, we must rely on our Directors, their des­ignated reporters, and other Lewis and Clark enthusiasts, to provide us with this information. We would be pleased to hear from you.

We Proceeded On, July 1978

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(Continued from page 1) to the north of present Pasco, Washing­ton. The raih-oad machine shops were moved from Ainsworth to Pasco in 1884. Since the days of Ainsworth , the land now included in the State Park was used for stock grazing, and was a pai·t of the holdings of ~fr. and Mrs. Thomas Car­stens of Tacoma, Washington.

For many years the Daughters of Pio­neers of Washington, Chapter No. 3, Pasco, Washington, envisioned the es­tablishment of a Columbia-Snake River Park at this place. The Carsten family deeded the land now comprising the State Park to Chapter No. 3 of the Daughters of Pioneers of Washington, and on October 16, 1927, 122 years to the day of the arrival of the Lewis nnd Clark E xpedit ion, dedicated a monument, pro­vided by the Washington State Histori­cal Society, in the park memorializing the famous exploring pru·ty. A handful of dedicated women were determined to carve a park out of t he sand banks of the two rivers, the grazing land, and the sagebrush. They planted saplings which are now tall sturdy trees in the pai·k. Prior to the installation of a water and sprinkling system, water was carried by pail to irrigate the young trees. By 1931, the woman 's organization, realizing that they could no longer provide physical and monetary effort to maintain and fur­ther the development of the pai'k, pre­sented the facility to the State of Wash­ington, and the site, now administered by the Washington State Parks and Recre­ation Commission, is known as Saca­jawea State Park.

The present building, which houses the new Sacajawea Interpretive Center, was constructed in 1939 through the efforts of Mr. Jay Perry, who was a Benton County Commissioner and a resident of Kennewick, Washington. A long time collector of Indian artifacts, he donated his valuable collection to the State of Washington, in 1941, for display in one wing of the newly constructed facility. The other wing of the structure, until the recent April 16, 1978 dedication, had been closed to the public. This section of the building, with excellent new dis­p lays, interprets the Lewis and Clark-Sa-

We Proceeded On, July 1978

cagawea story. Mr. Perry's con t inued in­ter est in t h e Center has seen him instrumental in persuading other collec­tors to donate all or part of their collec­tions for permanent display in the Indian artifact wing of the building, which has also been remodeled. As a tribute to Mr. Perry, this wing of the Center has been named "The Jay Perry Room of Indian Artifacts".

Readers will find enclosed with the mail­ing of this issue of We Proceeded On, the program for the April 16, 1978 dedication of the Sacajawea Interpretive Center, and a folder describing the new facility. Readers are diJ·ected to the paragraph which clarifies the several spellings, Sa­cajawea and Sacagawea, used in the folder, and in this issue of We Proceeded On.

One of the wall displays in the Lewis and Clark - Sacagawea section of the Interpretive Center. Displays feature excerpts from the journals of the exploring party, facsimiles of Captain Clark's sketch maps, and art work depicting incidents related to the Expedition. Photograph by the Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission.

Stone artifacts display in the Jay Perry Room of Indian Artifacts. All the items on display were found along the banks of (he Columbia and Snake Rivers within one hundred miles of the Interpretive Center. Photograph by the Washington State Parks & Recreation Com­mission.

r PLAN NOW TO ATTEND THE FOUNDATION's lOTH ANNUAL MEETING VANCOUVER, WA. - AUGUST 13-16, 1978 - THE QUAY MOTOR. INN

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Dr. Paul R. Cutright (left) and Dr. Michael Brodhead (right) have collaborated in developing the interesting article published in this issue of We Proceeded On. At the moment these two authors, after several years of joint effort, have near com­pletion a full length biography of Dr. Elliott Coues, famous orinthologist, Army surgeon, and Western Americana historian. Lewis and Clark enthusiasts are probably most familiar with Coues' 1893 edition and annotation of the 1814 Biddle/ Allen narra­tive based on the original journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.'

Readers are referred to the biographical resume of Dr. Cutright which appeared in We Proceeded On, Volume 4, Number 1, Februru·y 1978, page 6. In his A History of the Lewis and Clark Journals,' Dr. Cutright provides a chapter on Elliott Coues and his contribution as a litterateur of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Dr. Brodhead, University of Nevada, Reno, attended Wichita State University, Kansas (1953-1954), and is a graduate of the University of Kansas (B.A. 1959; M.A.

1962; Ph.D. 1967), Lawrence. Prior to his present assignment, he was awarded a Fellowship (1964), Seminar for Historical Administrators, Williams­burg, Virginia; was Instructor of History (1964-1965), Wisconsin State University, Eau Claire; served as Curator of the Kansas Collection (1965-1967), University of Kansas Libraries; and was Assistant Professor of History (1967-1971), ll.nd Associate Professor of History (1971 - present), University of Nevada, Reno. During 1972-1973, he was a Visiting Associate Professor of History at the University of Kansas.

He is the author of numerous periodical articles that have appeared in: The Trail Guide; Kansas Historical Quarterly; New England Quarterly; Nevada Highway and Parks; Journal of Ariz ona History; Colorado Magazine; The Prairie Scout (Kansas Corral of the Westerners); and The Journal of the Northern Nevada Native Plant Society.

Specific articles alluding to Dr. Elliott Coues have appeai·ed in: The Trail G1iide, Vol. 12, March 1967; Arizona and the We8t, Vol. 13, 1971; New England Quarterly, Vol. 44, 1971; Journal of Arizona History, Vol. 14, 1973; and Colorado Magazine, Vol. 52, 1975.

His 74-page monograph, A Soldier-Scientist in the American Southwest: Being a Narrative of the Travels of Brevit Captain Elliott Coues, Assistant Surgeon, U.SA . ... , was published as Historical Monograph No. I, Arizona Historical Society, Tucson, 1973.

Dr. Cutright and Dr. Brodhead are members of the Foundation. The editor and members of the Foundation are indebted to these two historical scholars for this fine article which was prepared expressly for We Proceeded On.

1. Coues, Elliott (Editor). History of the Expedition under the Command of Lewis and Clark .. .. , four volumes, Francis P. Harper, N.Y., 1893. Paperback reprint edition, three volumes, Dover Press, N.Y., 1965,·

2. Cutright, Paul R., A History of the Lewis and Clark Journals, Univ. Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1976, pp. 73-103. See Also Book Review (George H. Tweney), WPO, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 12-13.

Dr. Elliott Coues and Sergeant Charles Floyd

By Paul R. Cutright and Michael J. Brodhead

All students of the Lewis and Clark Expedition are familiar with, and in­debted to, Elliott Coues' History of the Expedition Under the Command of Lewis and C/,ark, a four-volume, highly annotated reissue of the 1814 Biddle edition. Of all of Coues' histori­cal publications it was the most im­portant. To it, as to his other works, he brought his "enormous, encom­passing, encyclopedic learning."'

To Coues, the Lewis and Clark Expe­dition was "our national epic of explo­ration."2 It should occasion no sur­prise, therefore, that, soon after the 1893 publication of his Biddle reissue, Coues became deeply involved in an effort originated by citizens of Sioux City, Iowa, to erect a monument on the site of Sergeant Charles Floyd's grave and to purchase property at that site for a Sergeant Floyd Park. We first learn of Coues' interest in these projects through a letter he wrote on May 22, 1895, to George D.

1. Wallace Stegner, Beyond the Hundredth Meridian, Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co., 1954, 117.

2. Elliott Coues, ed., History of the Expedi­tion Under the Command of Lewis and Clark, 4 vols., New York: Francis P. Harper, 1893, I , vi.

Perkins then editor and owner of the Sioux City Journal. Perkins publish~d the letter in the May 26th issue of his paper and, to the best of our knowl­edge, it has not since been repub­lished. As a consequence, we herewith reproduce it verbatim:

Dear Sir: -

I hail with acclamation the proposition made in your paper of the 16th to erect a monument to the memory of Sergeant Charles Floyd, the first - and only -member of the Lewis and Clark expedi­tion who lost his life in the long course of that ever to be remembered enterprise. As the editor of "Th e History of the Lewis and Clark Expedition," and the first to publish a ny account of it in the very words written from day to day by the immortal explorers, having all their original manuscript journals and field note books before me,3 I have the most vivid and keenest possible personal inter­est in everything that relates to the sub­ject. I must confess that I am what my friends call me - "A Lewis and Clark en­thusiast." But I do not think that anyone can read that "national epic of explora­tion" without sharing my enthusiasm. It

3. During the course of his researches on the Biddle reissue Coues, as is now well known, had rediscovered, at the American Philo­sophical Society, the Original Journals of Lewis and Clark and, for his personal use, had made a copy of them.

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is one of the grandest episodes in the his­tory of our country. Every Ame1ican. can be proud of it. Every person in Missomi, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, South and North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington - for the expedition passed through all these states - has an interest in the immortal achievements of these dauntless pioneers. For every Iowan this interest focuses about the saddest in­cident of the whole journey - the death of Charles Floyd.

Con-espondence with Mitchell Vincent of Sioux City has already informed me of what has thus far been accomplished, and I sincerely trust that the good work will go on to a speedy and successful issue. Nothing could be more appropriate than for all who are interested to assemble on the spot where Floyd was buried, August 20 next, on the ninety-fast anniversary of his death, and form a Floyd Monu­ment Association, for the purpose of car­rying t he project into effect, under the auspices and with the substantial co­operation of the state legislature.

Residents of Sergeant Bluffs and vicinity are better informed than myself of the exact nature of the ground at and near the original grave, and of the conditions under which a tract could be secured; but I can heartily endorse and warmly urge the proposition made by Mr. Vincent and others to purchase a tract of twenty or thirty acres to be set aside for a public park, upon the culminating point of which the monument is to stand.

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•'

It is now nearly twenty years since I have been in Sioux City, and there must have been great changes in its environment; but according to my recollection Ser­geant Bluffs has natural advantages which could at moderate expense be arti­ficially improved with striking effect.

It will give me the greatest pleasure to forwa1·d the good work by every means in my power. Very truly yours, - Elliott Coues

-2-No single event of the Lewis and Clark Expedition is better known to Americans than the sudden illness, death and bW'ial of Sergeant Charles Floyd. On August 19, 1804, Captain Clark had written in his journal: "Serjeant Floyd is taken verry bad all at once with a Biliose Chorlick;" and on the next day, August 20, had reported Floyd's death and burial, and the erection on his grave of a "seeder post" as a marker'.

In years ahead, due to various circum­stances, none anticipated, Sergeant Floyd's remains did not rest in peace, were even irreverently abused. In Sep­tember 1806, as Lewis and Clark re­turned from the Pacific, they found that in their absence Floyd's grave had been partially opened and left un­covered. The remains apparently were left intact. T hey ascribed the sacrilege to the Indians, though the offender may well have been a wolf or some other predatory animal. Before leav­ing the location, the men of the party refilled the grave.5

Sergeant John Ordway, in his journal, described the place of Floyd's burial as "a h andsome S lightly Round knob."" In time it became known as Floyd's Bluff, and an importa nt land­mark to travellers who followed Lewis and Clark up the Missouri. Among these travellers - all of whom stopped at the bluff or took cognizance of it - were such celebrated figures as Thomas Nuttall and John Bradbury, both botanists; Henry Brackemidge, lawyer and writer; George Catlin, artist and eulogist of the North American Indian; Joseph N. Nicollet, scientist; and John James Audubon, artist and naturalist.

Of these commanding figures, George Catlin attracts our attention more than any of the others for, in 1832,

4. Reuben Gold T hwaites, ed., Original Jour­nals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 8 v<lls., New York : Dodd, Mead & Co., 1904-1905, I , ll4.

5. Ibid., V, 376. Smprisingly, neither John Ordwav nor Pat1ick Gass alluded in their jour­nals to" this stop at F loyd's Bluff.

6. Milo M. Quaife, ed., The Journals of Cap· tnin Meriwether Lewis and Sergeant John Ord1rny, Madison: State Hi~torical Society of Wisconsin, 1916, 112.

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Reproduction of artist George Catlin's drawing of Floyd's Bluff circa 1832. See text.

he stopped long enough at Floyd's Bluff to make a drawing, one which depicts not only the bluff and envi­rons but, also, Floyd's grave, including the cedar post standing vertically at the top of the "handsome Slightly Round knob."

Catlin, too, in words strictly Catlin­ian, reflected on his visit: "I several times ascended it [the bluff] and sat upon his g:rave, overgrown with grass and the most delicate wild flowers ... and contemplated the solitude and stillness of this tenanted mound, and beheld from its top, the windings infi­nite of the Missouri , and its thousand hills and domes of green, vanishing into blue in the distance . .. this soli­tary cedar-post, which tells a tale of grief - grief that was keenly felt, and tenderly, but long since softened in the march of time and lost. Oh, sad and tear-starting contemplat ion! sole tenant of this stately mound, how sol­itary thy habitation! how Heaven wrested from thee thy ambition, and made thee sleeping monarch of this land of silence."7

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Lewis and Clark were among the first to describe, and experience, the insta­bility of the Missouri River banks. Consisting of fine, powdery, alluvial soil, they often crumbled, as happened particula rly when the river reached flood stage. As Coues graphically stat­ed it: "The insolent and turbulent Missouri, ever restlessly turning in its bed, ever exploring its flood-plain for new channels in which to wind its way along, ever making new bends and cutting off old ones, had exerted its

7. George Catlin, Letters and Notes of the Manners , Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians, 2 vols., Minneapo­lis: Ross & Haines, Inc., 1965, II, 4.

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incessant and irresistable force upon this miscalled one of the 'eternal hills'," [namely, Floyd's Bluff].8

By the spring of 1857, the side of Floyd's Bluff next to the river had been so far taken away as to expose Floyd's grave. Between it and the Missouri torrent was left an almost perpendicular precipice some one hundred feet in height.

Only by sheerest chance was this per­ilous condition of the grave discovered and reported. On a day late in April, 1857, a local resident by the name of M.L. Jones happened to be crossing the bluff and noted that the river, then unusually high, had cut deeply into the bank. He walked to the edge of the bluff, saw that the cedar post marker was gone and seemingly the g1:ave, too. However, by lying on his stomach and inching closer, he could see bones projecting from the face of the cliff a few feet below him.

Jones lost no time in reporting his dis­covery to residents of Sioux City who hurried to the scene.9 Once there, they quickly noted that " the box contain­ing Sgt. F loyd's remains was exposed for one-third its length , and being thus suspended over the river was in imminent danger of falling." 10 But what, if anything, could they do about it? They finally hit on a plan which they proceeded to carry out. By tying a rope around one of the men, the lightest of the group, they were able to lower him over the brink of the precipice until he had reached the

8. E lliott Coues, " I n Memoriam, Sergeant Charles Floyd. Report of the Floyd Memorial Association," Sioux City, Iowa: Press of Per­kins Bros. Co., 1897, 14.

9. Ibid., 15, 15n.

10. Ibid., 16.

level of the box. Then, with the aid of another rope, and not without danger, the remains were hoisted to safety, also the man who had been lowered to retrieve them. With that done, the men turned to an examina­tion of Floyd's remains, discovering at once that several skeletal parts were missing. A member of the party later reported: "The remains not already washed away were secured; they in­cluded the skull with its lower jaw, a thigh bone, a shin bone, and various others." He reported, too, that the "coffin appeared to have been made with small oak slabs, set up on end around the body, with a covering of similar form and same material.""

Of course, but for Mr. M.L. Jones, and his discovery, the entire remains of Ser geant Floyd might well have fallen victim to the fury of the Missouri -in which case the history of Sergeant Floyd perforce would end on a spring day in 1857. We hear nothing more abo u t Mr. Jones , and t hink it a shame. Even though he is not with us today, a doff of the hat to him seems perfectly in order.

On the 28th of May, 1857, in a ceremo­ny both religious and patriotic, Ser­geant Charles Floyd's recovered re­mains were recommitted to the earth, in a freshly dug grave 200 yards farther back from the river. The occa­sion created much public interest. A witness later described even ts of the day in these words: "Capt. James B. Todd, late of the U.S. Ai·my, officiated as marshal. Under his direction a pro­cession was formed at 2 p.m. in front of the land Office in Sioux City. The new coffin, six feet seven or eight inches long, was neatly finished, and draped with the flag .... The coffin was borne at the head of the proces­sion, which marched to t he levee, where the steam ferryboat 'Louis Burns' was wait ing to carry all who could get aboard down river to the bluff. Many persons also repaired to the bluff in carriages or on foot, as the boat was too small to carry them all. At the proper time the coffin was lowered into the grave. The orator of the occasion was the Hon. Marshall F. Moore,' 2 who delivered an address which ... was very appropriate, able and eloquent."'"

There was talk, even then, of raising fu nds for the purchase of a suitable,

11. Ibid., 16. One report has it that the skull had a lready toppled down the cliff and was recovered at the river's edge.

12. Marshall F. Moore of New York had come to Sioux City in 1855 to practice law. He late1· went to t he Northwest and became Governor of the State of Washlngton.

13. Coues, " In Memoriam, Sergeant Charles Floyd," 18.

permanent monument to be erected in memory of Sergeant Floyd. The idea met with favor, but as the years went by and other interests in ter­vened, it languished and was a lmost forgotten.

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More than thirty-five years went by before people of Sioux City and else­where again became earnestly inter­ested in Sergeant Floyd, his grave and a monument to his m emory. Two events were primarily responsible. The first, in 1893, was Coues' reissue of the Biddle edition of Lewis and Clark. The second, in 1894, was the discovery and publication of Sergeant Floyd's Journal." Both events quick­ly received national publicity, and newspapers, including the Sioux City J ournal, began , in editorials, to re­flect a reawakened public sentiment in favor of a monument to Floyd.

It was at this point that Elliott Coues threw his weight behind the proposi­tion. He not only wrote the letter of May 26, 1895, earlier reproduced, to George Perkins but also an article ti­tled "A Monument to Sergeant Floyd" which appeared in The Nation of May 30, 1895 (Vol. IX, p. 421), and a letter to the edi tor of The Washing­ton Post who printed it in his issue of June 13, 1895. At about this same time the Associated Press, probably as a result of Coues' piece in The Nation, released a dispatch favoring t he mon­ument which news story went the rounds of uncounted newspapers. 15

On J une 6, 1895, great momentum was given to the movement for a Floyd monument, and for a Floyd park, with · the formation in Sioux City of a Floyd Memorial Association. Almost at once this organization had t o face up to an embarrassing problem. A group of its members sent to Floyd's Bluff simply, and incr edibly, could not find Floyd's grave. The marker had disappeared and foraging cattle had obliterated a ll trace of the buria l site. Obviously, it would appear, Floyd had been so far forgotten that no one in recent years had even visited the grave. A second group which went to the bluff seeking to find the grave did succeed, though not until one of them declared that the earth covering the grave might well be of a different color from that 14. Historians were unaware of the existence of Floyd 's Journal until Februa ry 3, 1894, when Reuben Gold Thwaites, secretary of the Historical Society of Wisconsin, discovered it among Lyman C. Draper's collection of papers relating to George Rogers Clark a nd William Clark. Floyd's Journal was first published in the Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society , Worcester, Mass. (Vol. X, n.s., Part 2, 1894, pp. 225-252).

15. Coues, "In Memoriam, Sergeant Charles Floyd," 23.

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of the original black prairie soil. Em­ploying trowels and spades, they shortly located a patch of yellowish earth and, digging farther, disclosed "pieces of oak board about a foot long, much decayed." Then, some four feet below the swface, they found the cof­fin, "still in form , but so much de­cayed that the lid caved in when struck with the spade. The skull, in­cluding the lower jaw, and some other bones were found, in a good state of preservation." '"

With the rediscovery of the Sergeant's remains now definitely accomplished, the Floyd Memorial Association set a date, that of August 20, 1895, for cere­monies attending the reinterment of the remains. The date was appropri­ate, being the 91th anniversary of his death. The Association, too, at once began elaborate preparations for the event. The secretary was instructed to write Elliott Coues and James D. Butler" to ascertain whether either or both could be present to deliver ad­dresses on the 20th. A committee was appointed to obtain receptacles for Floyd's skeletal parts and a proper stone to serve as a temporary marker. Other members of the organization were delegated to look into the pur­chase of the land of Floyd's Bluff to be used as a pa1·k. It was arranged that letters would be written to nu­merous dignitaries cordially inviting them to attend the ceremonies. One of them was mailed to Col. William Hancock Clark, eldest grandson of William Clark. Unfort unately the in­vitation, due to misdirection, did not arrive in time for him to accept. 18 T he Association saw to it that still other members handled the financing of the ceremonies, prepared the program and arranged the desired publicity.

In his letter accepting the invitation to a ttend, Coues expressed doubt as to the wisdom of reburying Floyd's skull; he though t it would be better preserved in some museum. The sug­gestion raised considerable discussion at the next meeting of the Association but, in the end, it was decided that "all the remains should be recommit­ted to the grave."19

Coues arrived in Sioux City on Au­gust 13, and with him Mrs. Coues. T hey stayed on until August 25, a 16. Ibid., 24-25.

17. James D. But ler (1815-1905), educator, was born in Ru tland, Vt. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1836, a nd was professor of ancient languages in the Univ. of Wisconsin 1858-1867. He edited, for the American Anti­quarian Society, Floyd's J ournal, published by that organization in 1894.

18. Coues, " In Memoriam, Sergeant Cha rles Floyd," 56.

19. Ibid., 28.

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total of eleven days.20 On the 17th he attended a meeting of the Floyd Me­morial Association, one that had been called to complete arrangements for the ceremonies to be held tluee days later. All presen t were interested in reports that the stone marker had been cut and inscribed, was ready to be laid, and that the earthenware con­tainers (urns) for Floyd's remains had been obtained.21

The events of August 20 began with a train ride to the foot of Floyd's Bluff. From there a procession, led by Gen. Hancock Post , G.A.R., and a fife and drum corps, ma1·ched to the top of the bluff. Following, in order, were: (1) old settlers; (2) officers of the Floyd Memorial Association, speakers for the occasion, and other invited guests; (3) city and council of­ficials; (4) other organizations; and (5) the public. A total of some 500 per­sons attended.

The program began promptly at 2:00 P.M., and proceeded as follows:

I. Viewing the remains in the urns, and examining F loyd 's Journal.

II . Short address by Judge Wakefield, on behalf of Sioux City.

III. S hort funeral sermon by Prof. James D. Butler.

IV. Singing of "Nearer My God to Thee."

V. Prayer.

VI. Ceremonial of burial of the remains, conducted by the G.A.R.

VII. Short addresses b y Dr. E lliott Coues and others.

VIII. Setting of t h e stone over t he grave.'"

Coues' talk was indeed brief, though appropriate to the occasion, and doubt less to some of his listeners painfully moving:

Ladies a nd Gentlemen: Instead of any poor remarks of m y own on this interest­ing histo1ic occasion, we will hear the very words which were penned on this spot by Capt. William Clark on the day of Sergeant Floyd's death, August 20, 1804:

"Died with a great d eal of composure, before he died he said to me I am going away I want you to write me a letter -We buried him on th e top of the bluff 1h mile below a small river to which we gave his name. he was buried with t he Honors of War much lamented , a seeder

20. Coues, "Book of Dates" (1895), an unpub­lished work presently in the possession of Wil­liam P. Coues, a great nephew of E lliott Coues.

21. Coues, "In Memoriam, Sergeant Charles Floyd," 32.

22. Ibid., 30.

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post with the Name Sergt. C. Floyd died here 20th of August 1804 was fixed at the head of his grave - This ma n at all times gave us proofs of his Determined resolu­tion to doe service to his country and honor to himself after paying all honor to our Decesed brother we camped in the mouth of floyd's river about 50 yards wide, a butiful evening."23

It may be safely said we think that the great majority of Coues' listeners on this occasion were hearing for the first time Clark's very words of Au­gust 20, 1804. Only three years had elapsed since Coues had rediscovered, at the American Philosophical Soci­ety, Philadelphia, the original jolll·­nals of Lewis and Clark, and just two years since Clark 's entry of August 20, in his own words, had first appeared in print, in Coues' reissue of the Bid­dle edition. Coues had inserted the entry as a footnote in Volume I, page 79. It is likely that quite a few Lewis and Clark students think that it was first printed in Thwaites' Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Ex­pedition (Volume I, pages 114-115) published 1904-1905.

The even ts of August 20, 1895, honor­ing the memory of Sergeant F loyd were continued that evening in the Sioux City Y.M.C.A. where a large au­dience heard Coues describe to them highlights of the Lewis and Clark Ex­pedition. As later reported, he was in­troduced as the man who "probably knows more about their [Lewis and Clark's) travels, hardships and adven­tures than any other living man." The same report added: "Dr. Coues has a strong, clear voice, and the faculty of keeping his hearers in perfect sympa­thy with him in his subject.""

Coues began his address by saying: " I have been asked to give you some ac­count of a journey which, from the day it was finished until today, has never ceased to be on the tongues of men, has never ceased to be a model of all such undertakings, and will never cease to bear fruit unt il our great West is no longer great. "25 He talked for the better part of an holll' and, when finished, "was tendered a hearty round of applause."

Coues stayed on in Sioux City in· order to attend, on August 24, a meeting of the Floyd Memorial Association. At this session he was elected a vice pres­ident of that body, appointed to a publication committee, and asked by the chairman of that committee to prepare a report "of the obsequies of August 20, together with such other historical and official matters as

23. Ibid., 42.

24. Ibid. , 44.

25. Ibid., 44.

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should show the origin, organization and proceedings of the association."l• This report, titled "In Memoriam, Sergeant Charles Floyd, Report of the F loyd Memorial Association," was published in 1897.

As our footnotes attest, we have al­ready, in this paper, used several ex­cerpts from Coues' report, such has been its value to us; and we would be flagrantly at fault if we did not em­ploy one more. To do so we should re­turn to the ceremonies of August 20 and the initial exercise: "Viewing the remains in the urns."

Of those who viewed the remains no one, we are confident, was more inter­ested than Coues. Supporting our conviction are unassailable factS: Coues was a medical doctor, a skilled anatomist, and a trained observer with abundant curiosity. We should therefore unhesitatingly accept as true his enumeration of Floyd's bones as reinterred on August 20. Earlier ac­counts, as we have seen, were vague and incomplete; Coues' was specific: "The skull, including the lower jaw [mandible]; the right femur, 18 inches long; a tibia, 15 inches; a fibula, 14% inches; part of the other fibula; one vertebra; one clavicle; and portions of several ribs - all in good preserva­tion.,,27

Startling? In the adult human skele­ton there are a pproximately 208 bones, the number varying slightly with the amount of fusion in coccy­geal vertebrae. Even if we regard the part of one fibula as a complete bone, and portions of several ribs as the full complement of 24, the bones of Ser­geant Floyd reburied on August 20 add up to only 58.ts We are forced to believe, therefore, that the waters of the Missouri, during the spate of 1857, had stripped from Floyd's tomb more than three-fourths of his bones.29

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The primary objectives of the Floyd Memorial Association were, as we know, to obtain funds sufficient to purchase land for a Floyd Park and for a fitting monument to be erected on the site of Floyd's grave. The Asso-

26. Ibid., 56.

27. Ib ic/.., 43.

28. Cranium (27 bones), 1 mandible, 1 clavi­cle, l femur, 1 tibia, 2 fibu las, 1 ver tebra, and 24 ribs - for a t6tal of 58.

29. T he bones missing, when his remains were reburied on August 20, 1895, appear to have been : hyoid, sternum, vertebrae (at least 25), both scapulae, one clavicle, both humeri, both ulnae, both radii, 16 carpals, 10 metacarpals, 28 finger bones (phalanges), one femur, one tibia, both patellae, l4 tal'sals, 10 metatarsals, and 28 toe bones.

ciation, with the help of other inter­ested parties, soon achieved both ob­jectives. Aiding most materially were monetary appropriations: $5000 from Congress, $5000 from the State of Iowa, and a matching fund ($10,000) from the public. The cornerstone of the monument was laid on August 20, 1900. The monument itself, a tower­ing, 100-foot high obelisk of white stone, was completed and dedicated on May 30, 1901. Since Coues bad died on Christmas Day, 1899, he, unfortu­nately, could not attend these cere­monies, both of which he would have enjoyed. He would have enjoyed, too, another ceremony, one that occurred in May, 1960, when the Floyd monu­ment was designated a Registered Na­tional Historic Landmark, the very first of many National Historic Land­marks which have since been so de­nominated in the United States.

It is not too much to say that Coues' active participation in the ceremonies of August 20, 1895, his role in bringing national atten tion to the projects then in progress in Sioux City, bis pro­duction of the Association's 1897 report,30 and his overall enthusiastic support, contributed significantly toward the ultimate realization of a park and monument to the memory of Sergeant Charles Floyd, the only man of the Lewis and Clark corps to lose his life during the 1804-1806 his­toric transit of the North American continent.

Washington Group Meets

The Washington (State) Lewis and Clark Trail Committee held its 35tb quarterly meeting at Pasco, Washing­ton, on April 15th, the day before the dedication ceremonies for the Saca­jawea Interpretive Center (see front page story, this issue of WPO).

Committee members present were: Mitchell Doumit, Chairman; Archie Graber, Vice Chairman; Hazel Bain, Secretary; Ralph Rudeen, Executive Secretar y; Roy Craft; Winifred Flip­pin; Vi Forrest; Clifford Imsland; Walter Oberst; R. C. Smolinski; Mar­jorie Sutch; and George Tweney.

Guests present at the luncheon and/ or meeting were: Mr. and Mrs. ,Jay Perry, Mary Oberst, Abbey Kidwell and Mary Carpenter (president and treasurer respectively, of the Franklin County Historical Society ), a ll of Pasco; Bob and Ruth Lange, Port-

30. This report by Coues is a n important doc­ument, and not so well known to Lewis and Clark aficiimados as it might be. It ran to 58 pages and was, of course, like most prose from Coues' pen, both interest.ingly and felicitously written. We are advised that xerox copies may be obtained by writing the S tate Historical So­ciety of Iowa, Iowa City.

Archie Graber, vice chai1;man of the Washington (State) Lewis and Clark Trail Committee, presented an inter­esting and informative talk on early United States flags at the April 15, 1978 quarterly meeting of the commit­tee at Pasco, Washington.

His discourse diagramed and com­mented upon the variety of arrange­ments of the field of five-pointed stars, and the number of alternating red and white s tripes. These configu­rations changed frequently as addi­·tiona l states became part of the Union. Reference was made to the fif­teen star - fifteen stripe flag carried by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. See al,so, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 12.

land, Oregon; Gladys Smolinski and her sister Doris Eller, of Lewiston, Idaho; Ray Forrest, Walla Walla; Jacky Rudeen, Olympia; Sy lv ia Graber and Maxine Tweney, Seattle; Gracie Craft, Stevenson; Richard, Laura and Brian Krieg, Skamania; and Cindy Sulenes, Interpretive Spe­cialist at the Lewis and Clark Inter­pretive Center at Ft. Canby (Cape Disappointment), Washington.

Prior to the meeting, members and guests assembled at the Chinese Gar­den Restaurant for luncheon. The meeting was held in the Pasco PUD Auditorium, 1:30-3:50 P.M.

Archie Graber presented his review of early United States Flags (see illus­tration).

The majority of t he meeting t ime was devoted to finalizing plans and pro­grams, and establishing the registra­t ion fee commensurate with the ex­pense budget for the Tenth Annual Meeting, which is being hosted by the committee in August (see story on page one, WPO, Vol. 4, No. 2, May 1978).

Several sub-committees are at work on vario us phases of the An nu al Meeting activities, and will report at t he committee's quarterly meeting on June 17, 1978, at Vancouver , Wash­ington.

A motion was made and a resolu tion

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<frafted and directed to the Washing­to n State Board of Geographic Names. This in regard to a name change for the twin pinnacles at Wal­lula Gap, on the Columbia River, in southeastern Washington. The sug­gestion is that the name of this geo­logic formation be chan ged from "Two Sisters" to "Two Captains".

Anecdote - From The Journals And Literature About the Expedition Paul R. Cutright, in Lewis and Clark: Pioneering Naturalists, Univ. of Illinois Press, Urbana, 1969, pp. 18-19, comments on a "Joint Command", and the temper­ments of the two leaders.

"Possibly Jefferson did not think of the command as joint, but that is what it became. Lewis insisted on it. Most persons today, notably army of­ficers, shudder a t the idea of joint leadership, They insist that it runs counter to a ll sound principles of command, is like putting two scorpi­ons into the same bottle. As things turned out, there was no cause for concern about Lewis and Clark. In 28 months together , under conditions of almost daily hardship and tensions, they met each and every problem, seemingly without even a whisper of dissent between them. Since the two men were so unlike temperamentally and in other ways, one wonders how this could have been so. Lewis was a dreamer, intent, fine drawn, reserved, unwavering, generally humorless. Clark was warm, companionable, a good judge of men, and easy conversa­t ionalist - but inclined to keep a por­tion of his counsel to himself - and highly successful in meeting the de­mands of actual living."

Iowa State University Honors Donald Jackson One of four Iowa State University a lumni to receive the University's Distinguished Achievement Award is Foundation Director Donald Jackson of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

T he award recognizes ou tstanding achievement as evidenced by preemi­nent cont ribution to education, gov­ernment, social welfare, science, agri­culture, finance, general business or the home. The awards were presented during" Alumni Days", June 2-3, 1978.

Donald Jackson, as our Foundation members know, is a distinguished writer and historian. For twenty years he was editor of the University of Illi­nois Press, Urbana, during which time he produced some 600 books for schol­ars throughout the world. Many of bis

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writings have related directly to Trans-Mississippi West history, and among these has been his invaluable Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expe­dition, with Related Documents, 1783-1854, published by the University of Illinois P ress in 1962.

From 1968 to 1976, he was professor of history at the University of Virgin­ia, Alderman Library, where he began the editing of The Papers of George Washington, a sixty to seventy vol­ume project scheduled to appear in print over the next twenty years. '

In 1974, the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, recognizing his contributions, research, and publica­tions relating to the Lewis and Clark Exepdition, presented to Dr. Jackson the Foundation's Award of Meri­torious Achievement. When he ad­dressed members and guests at the 1974 Annual Banquet at Seaside, Ore­gon, Jackson's paper was titled: "Thomas Jefferson and the Pacific Northwest". This coming August at Vancouver, Washington, he will again be the Annual Banquet speaker. See story on page 13 this issue of WPO.

Oregon Committee Meets

The Oregon Lewis and Clark Trail Committee met at 9:30 A.M., Satur­day, May 13, 1978. The meeting con­vened at the Portland Orthopedic Clinic (Chairman Chuinard's office) in Portland.

Committee members attending were: Chairman Chuinard, Vice Chairman Lange, Anderson, Beadle, Bounds, Goggin, Hallaux, Harvey, Lerback, Lundell, McClung, Rosa, and Wil­liams. In the absence of Secretary Amacker, Chairman Chuinard kept notes for later development of the minutes of the meeting. Elisabeth Walton Potter, Oregon State Parks and Recreation Branch, Oregon State Highway Division , attended in lieu of David Powers I II . Special guests were: Mitchell Doumit, Chairman; Hazel Bain, Secretary; Ralph Ru­deen, Executive Secretary; and Jack Ritter, a ll members of the Washing­ton (State) Lewis and Clark Trail Committee.

Chairman Chuinard reviewed corre­spondence relating to: The new Heri­tage Conservation and Recreation Service (HCRS) which replaces the previously designated Bureau of Out­door Recreation (BOR), See WPO, Vol. 4, No. 2, p. 10; the development of a Recreation Trail from Fort Clat­sop to the Lewis and Clark Salt Cairn

L. Additional biographical information will be found in WPO, Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 5; Vol. 2, No. 4, p. 6, fn. 1.

We Proceeded On, July 1978

at Seaside, Oregon (this corre­spondence with the Coordinator of the Recreation Trail System for the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Branch); liaison with the Association of Oregon Counties for developing ac­tivities in each Oregon county along the Columbia River and the National Lewis and Clark Historic Trail; liai­son with the American Hiking Society in support of the National Lewis and Clark Historic Trail; the appoint­ment of three new members to the committee, namely: David Powers, III, Dorothy Kennedy, and John Lun­dell; several communications with the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Branch relating to a Nature Trail being developed at Lewis and Clark State Park, 20 miles east of Portland; member Paul Rosa's investigation concerning sponsorship of a CET A project, and the revelation that the committee had no authority to enter into contractural agreements in this respect: liaison with the Governor's office and the resolution developed at the committee's January meeting with respect to access to "Clark's Point of View", Oregon's Ecola State Park and Tillamook Head (see WPO, Vol. 4, No. 2, p. 9); Chairman Chuin­ard's letter to the Chief, Division of Publications, National Park Service, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, West Virginia/Maryland, re­garding a reference to the production of the weapons for the Lewis and Clark Expedition (at the H arpers Ferry arsenal in 1803) in the new fold­er describing this National Park facili­ty; liaison with the Oregon Secretary of State regarding a listing of the Ore­gon Lewis and Clark Trail Committee and its members in the Oregon Blue Book, and exchange of corre­spondence by Dr. Chuinard in regard to a request for funding the Brooke Cemetery, Wellsburg, West Virginia, for maintenance and the preservation of the burial site of the Expedition's Sergeant Patrick Gass.

P rior to a recess for luncheon, Wash­ington State committee Chairman Mitchell Doumit reviewed plans and the program for the Tenth Annual Meeting of the national Foundation. The Washington State committee is the host for the August meeting at Vancouver, Washington.

Hazel Bain of the Washington com­mittee, who also serves the national Foundation as Membership Secre­tary, reported on the s tatus of mem­bership renewals for 1978.

The meeting recessed at 12:30 P.M. for luncheon and reassembled at 1:30 P.M.

Chairman Chuinard reported on the status of the proposed legislation sup-

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porting the acquisition by the Nation­al Park Service of the Expedition's Salt Cairn' at Seaside, Oregon, as an addition to the Fort Clatsop National Memorial. Governor Straub has indi­cated, and committee member Ler­back (Seaside) confirmed, that several home owners adjacent to the Salt Cairn are concerned about what might be done in the way of develop­ment if the National Park Service was to acquire this historical site. Ray Lerback was instructed, as the result of a motion, to convey to the proper persons/groups at Seaside that our committee would be very willing to re­spond to an invitation to come to Sea­side to discuss the committee's activi­ty regarding the Salt Cairn.

Irving Anderson reported on his re­search concerning the spelling of the name of the Indian woman, Saca­ga wea, and a resolution being prepared for submission to the U.S. Board On Geographic Names, which endorses uniform spelling with the letter "g" in lieu of the letter "j" (Sa­cajawea) or the letter "k" (Saka­kawea).

Anderson then reviewed the historical markers project he has been involved with. The markers, interpreting se­lected Lewis and Clark botanical dis­coveries, and honoring pioneer land claimants, are installed within Port­land's Downtown Waterfront Park. This project, which also includes landscape plantings of common Pacif­ic Northwest botanical species first described by Lewis and Clark, is the culmination of a Bicentennial effort Anderson conceived and brought to conclusion as the chairman of a spe­cial committee.

Anderson then presented a brief dis­cussion regarding Captain William Clark's recording of the Chinook Indi­an name "Ke-ke-mah-ke", for the stream now known as the John Day River, Clatsop County, Oregon. Clark recorded the Chinook name, both in his journal, and on his sketch map2

of the lower Columbia River. Duplica­tion of names for the river now exists, because there are two John Day Rivers in Oregon. (The larger, or prin­cipal stream bearing this name emp­ties into the Columbia in eastern Ore­gon, Gilliam-Sherman County line, near the community of Rufus, Oregon.) Further studies may be made with respect to the practica­bility of recommending a name

1. Refen-ed to in the journals as the "Salt Works".

2. Thwaites, Reuben G. (Editor); Origin.al Journals ... , Dodd, Mead & Co., N .Y., 1904, Vol. 8, Map No. 32, Part 1111.

change to the Oregon Geographic Names Board, or alternatively devel­oping interpretive measures explain­ing the historical precedence for the Chinook Indian name "Kekemahke" River .

Prior to adjournment of the meeting at 3:40 P.M., it was decided to hold the next meeting of the committee on Saturday, September 23, 1978, at 1:30 P .M. at the Astor Library, Astoria, Oregon. Members will be the guests of committee member Ed Harvey and Mrs. Harvey at their Astoria resi­dence for luncheon at 12:00 noon.

New Material Added To Chatters' Collection Readers are referred to a story which appeared in WPO, Vol. 2, No. 2, Spring 1976, pp. 9-10, about Dr. Roy M. Chatters' 1 interesting collection of original newspaper stories (circa 1803-1809) which re la te to Lewis and Clark and the Expedition.

The editor has recently received from Roy Chatters reproductions made from the originals of four more news­paper articles which are now part of his interesting and unique collection. These recent acquisitions are:

From the New England Palladium, November 25, 1803, heading reads: "From a Kentucky Paper", datelined, "Louisville, Oct. 29." The article an­nounces that "Capt. Clark and Mr. Lewis left this place on Wednesday last, on their expedition to the West­ward." The article alludes to Presi­dent Jefferson's organization of the enterprise; the consumation of the Louisiana Purchase in the early fu­ture; and that it is ". . . certain t hat they will ascend the main branch of the Missisippi as far as possible: and it is probable they will then direct their cour se to the Missouri, and ascend it". There is mention of Lewis's "fron frame of a boat",' and concludes the discourse saying that: " About 60 men will compose the party".

From the Connecticut Courant for November 11, 1806, heading reads "Philadelphia, November 10.", and the editor adds an introductory para­graph which reads: "More Wonders; - The following letter is copied from the National Intelligencer. The Rocky mountain sheep beats the horned frog all hollow." This refer­ence to the Rocky Mountain sheep and the horned frog analogy was ob­viously prompted by the final state-

1. See WPO, Vol. 3, No. 2, May 1977, page 4.

2. See WPO, Vol. 1, No. 4, page 8, footnote 6.

ments in the "Extract of a letter from a gentleman at St. Charles [Missouri], to a gentleman in this town [Wash­ington, D.C .], dated 23d September 1806", which reads: "They have brought a number of curiosities; among which is- a wild sheep; its head and horns weigh about 80 or 90 pounds. He was caught on the Rocky Mountains." Dr. Thwaites includes this letter in his Vol. 7, Appendix LXVII, page 348.3

From the National Intelligencer, May 15, 1809, heading reads: " Indian War in Indiana", datelined, ·"Vincennes (LT.), April 9." The article reports that Governor Harrison, Indiana Ter­ritory, has received "a specia l express" from Governor Meriwether Lewis, Louisiana Territory, warning of the possibility of an Indian uprising. In­cluded in the article is an extract from a letter from General William Clark dated April 4, 1809, "to his friend in Louisville" advising that Governor Harrison has been informed ". . . of the situation of the Indians on the In­dian side of the Mississippi". General

'" Clark makes an analysis of the mili-tary situation in this letter, and adds a final sentence: "I do not think that the Indians will make any attempt, after they find we are apprised of their intentions." The balance of the copy reproduces under the heading "St. Louis, (U.L.) April 12. General Orde1·s. Headquarters, St. Louis, April 6, 1809." In these orders signed by Meriwether Lewis, the governor, al­luding t o himself as the "Commander in Chief", dirncted that all the volun­teer companies of cavalry, riflemen and infan try, in the Upper Louisiana Territory, are "to hold themselves in readiness t o march at a moment's warning." There are other extensive military orders co n tained in this "General Order". Of added interest is the publication on the same page of this newspaper of an additional "Gen­eral Orders, Headquarters, St. Louis, April 10, 1809", wherein Governor Lewis admonishes" . . . the extreme re­luctance on the part of the young men of Louisiana, to engage in the [mili­tary] service ... ", and that this has necessitated activation of other mili­tia, and command assign men ts and "classes". A page from the National Intelli­gencer for November 27, 1809, con­tains an article without heading which begins with the statement: "We some t ime since republished from a Western [newspaper] print a circum­stantia l statement of the c ircum ­stances attending the unfortunate 3. Thwaites, Reuben G . (Editor); Original J ournals of the Lewis and Clark Expedi­tion, Dodd, Mead & Co., N.Y., 1904. Re­print edit ions: Antiquarian Press, N.Y., 1959; Arno Press, N.Y., 1969.

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death of Governor M. Lewis. Infor ma­tion, which we have received, induces us to think that statement in several respects incorrect. Perhaps the two following letters will explain the par­ticulars of his death in a more satis­factory manner than any thing hitherto published." The first letter reproduced is captioned "Extract of a letter from a gentleman, dated Nash­ville, Tennessee, 18th October 1809." Readers of WPO will find this letter reproduced in T hwaites, Vol. 7, Ap­pendix LXXVI, page 389,' and will also note that Dr. Thwaites indicates in a note that this letter was written by a John Brahan to Captain Lewis's friend Major Amos Stoddard. Brahan alludes in his letter to a Major Neeley [sic], and readers of WPO will find J ames Neelly's similar and more de­tailed let ter to Thomas Jefferson in the Donald Jackson volume.5 The sec­ond letter, which is reproduced, is cap­tioned: "Extract of a letter from Gov­ernor M. Lewis, dated Chickasaw Bluffs [present Memphis, Tennessee], 22d Sept. 1809. " Dr. Jackson includes this le tter in his collection,6 and Lewis's letter was to Major Amos Stoddard at Fort Adams, on the lower Mississippi River (Mississippi Territo­ry).

Anecdote - From The Journals And Literature About the Expedition M. 0. Skarsten, in his book George Drouil­lard - H unter and Interpreter for Lewis and Clark, and Fur Trader 1807-1810, Ar­thur H . Clark Co., Glendale, CA, 1964, re­marks as follows about this important member of the exploring party:

"When Lewis and Cla1·k engaged George Drouillard as interpreter for the expedition which they proposed to lead to the Pacific, they transacted a piece of business that yielded them re­turns beyond their most sanguine ex­pectations; and this for the reason that George Drouillard was to demon­strate to them an ability and a wil ­lingness to serve them , not merely in the capacity of interpreter, but in sev­eral other capacities as well."

E lliott Couesdiscusses "George Drewyer ... , proper name believed to be Drouil­fard, . . . " on pages 256-257, in his History of the Expedition under the Command of Lewis and Clark ... Francis P. Harper, N .Y. 1893, and furnishes this description:

"Drewyer was a half-br eed; the Indi-

4. Ibid. See text.

5. Jackson, Donald (Editor); Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, with R elated Documents, 1783-1854, Univ. of Illinois Press, Urbana, 1962, "Letter 300", pp. 467-468. See also Jackson's "Statement 346", pp. 573-575.

6. Ibid., "Letter 299'', pp. 466-467.

We Proceeded On, July 1978

an side of him made him the best hunter and woodsman of the party; he was a crack shot, and simply in­valuable. Drewyer and the brothers Fields seem to have been on the whole the most serviceable of the party, ex­clusive of the sergeants."

When Captain Meriwether Lewis forward­ed his "Roll of men who accompanyed Cap­tains Lewis and Clark on thei1· late tour to the Pacific Ocean ... " to Secretary of War Henry Dearborn, on January 15, 1807, he wrote concerning Drouillard, although he used the spelling "Drulyard", as follows :

"A man of much merit; he has been peculiarly usefull from his knowledge of the language of gesticulation, and his uncommon skill as hunter and woodsman; those several duties he performed in good faith, and with an ardor which deserves the highest com­mendation. It was his fate also to have encountered, on various occa­sions, with either Captain Clark or myself, all the most dangerous and trying scenes of the voyage, in which he uniformly acquitted himself with honor ... "

Postal Service 1805?

Of course not! The editor apologizes for the ommission of a footnote relat­ing to the "Meriwether Lewis's Let­ters To His Mother" story which ap­peared in the previous issue, Vol. 4, No. 2, May 1978, pp. 6 and 7. The missing footnote should have indicat­ed to readers that Captain Lewis's let­ter to his mother written March 31, 1805, went forward to his mother via Corporal Warfington and party, who depa1·ted from the Expedition's Fort Mandan (near present Wash burn , North Dakota) on April 7, 1805, for the return to St. Louis.' On the same day the Captains and their party "proceeded on" upstream on the Mis­souri to the west and eventually to the Pacific Ocean.2

1. Letters, official communications, etc., as well as animal skins and skeletons, plant specimens, and other artifacts, traveled with Corporal Warfington's party, and at St. Louis, were turned-over to Captain Amos Stoddard, Captain Lewis's agent. Stoddard was responsible for dispatching these materials by post 1iders to Washing­ton, D.C., or by barge via the Mississippi River to New Orleans, and thence to the eastern seaboard. 2. Thwaites, Reugen G. (Editor); Original Joumal.s 9f the Lewis and Clark Exepdi­tion Dodd, Mead & Co. N.Y. 1904. Rep1int editions: Antiquarian Press, 1959, N.Y.; Arno Press, N.Y., 1969. Vol. 1, pp. 283-284.

We Proceeded On, July 1978

Annual Banquet Speaker

Foundation Dirnctor and historian, author, editor , teacher and lecturer, Dr. Dona ld Jackson, Co lorado Springs, Colorado, will be the speaker for the Annual Banquet, Wednesday, August 16, 1978. This is the final ac­tivity scheduled for the Foundation's T enth Ann ual Meeting at Vancouver, Washington.

Jackson's address is titled: "Zebulon Pike - the Poor Man's Lewis and Clark". In a letter to the editor Don remarked: "I h ave proposed to the program committee for the August meeting, that I speak on all three of Thomas Jefferson 's expeditions, which took place directly following the Louisiana Purchase: Dunbar and Freeman, Zebulon Pike, and Lewis and Clark, tying them all togeth er into the nationa l purpose. I want to make Pike the central theme."

How delighted we are to h ave the in­formal photogrnph of Don Jackson, which he sent in response to a request. Don and Cathie now reside in their mountain retreat some 7500 feet above sea level in t he Colorado Rock­ies. We envy them the view which we find Don partaking of in this ph o­tograph.

Blue Mountain Chapter Field Trip & Picnic

Southeastern Wash ington's Blue Moun­tain Chapter - Lewis and Clark Heri­tage Foundation sch eduled a Sunday, June 25, 1978 pot-luck picnic meeting at 37 acre Lewis and Clark Trail Park, a Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission facility loca ted on U.S. Highway 12, between Waitsburg an d Dayton (near Huntsville), Washington. Inclement weather on the day preceding this event accounted for a smaller turn out than expected, but improved weather prevented cancellation, and 15 to 20 members and guests of the Blue

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Mountain Chapter assembled for picnic and activity.

Following the picnic luncheon, Mr. Mike Nickerson, the Park Ranger, reviewed for the group the history of the State Park, and the relationship this area has with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The exploring party passed thl'Ough this area on their return journey on May 2, 1806. The previous evening the party had camped about t hi·ee miles west of Waits­burg. Following Mr. Nickerson's ta lk, the group returned, in their cars, to the his­toric Joyce McKinney Mantz farm near Waitsburg. The Expedition's journals re­late that it was here on the land occupied by this farm" ... where a branch (today's Coppei Creek) falls in from the south­west mountains ... " and joins the Tou­chet River, the stream that the Expedi­tion was following on their return jour­ney in 1806.

Anecdote - From The Journals And Literature About the Expedition Earle R. Forrest, in a 28 (unnumbered) page, bound, soft cover, monograph titled: Patrick Gass: Lewis and Clark's Last Man, published by Mrs. A. M. Painter (granddaughter of the Expedition's Sergeant Patrick Gass), Indepen­dence, PA, 1950, comments on the death of Mrs. Rachel Gass Brierley, the youngest child of Sergeant Gass, on May 31, 1926, and makes this interesting observation:

"The death of Mrs. Brierley severed the last link that connected the present with the historic past of long ago. She was the last child of the 31 men and one Indian woman who were the first to cross the American continent, south of Canada, under Lewis and Clark. The lives of these two women - Mrs. Smith [an older daughter, died, February 2, 1926] and Mrs. Brierley - and their father covered a period of 155 years. Gass was born under the British Flag [in 1771], and dur­ing [his life and the lives of his daugh­ters] this country grew from the original 13 states to 48, and they lived under every President from Washington to Coolidge."

Author Forrest, in April 1957, wrote the "Intro­duction" to the reprint edition of A Journal of the Voyages and Trauel.s of a Corps of Dis­couery ... By Patrick Gass, One of the persons Employed in the Expedition, published by Ross & Haines, Inc., Minneapolis, 1958. Gass' origi­nal journal has never been found, and the re­print noted above i.<1 from the paraphrastic ver­sion of Gass' journal edited by a David McKeehan, and published by Zadok Kramer, Pittsbw·g, 1807. See also: WPO, Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 9; Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 4-5; Vol. 2, No. 4, p. 11, fn. 11.

Wilbur Werner Interprets "Fight Site" Tour For Girl Scouts

Editor Keith Haugland, Cut Bank Pi­oneer Press, Cut Bank, Montana, was along with 26 Girl Scouts, their lead­ers, and a half-dozen parents, when Foundation Past President (1975-1976) Wilbur P. Werner led the way and was the interpretive guide for a tour to the Meriwether Lewis (Two Medicine River) Fight Site which is located about 13 miles by direct line and about 22 miles by road and trail southwest of Cutbank, Montana.'

In a full length feature article in the Pioneer Press, issue for April 19, 1978, Editor Haugland provides a well wTit­ten, accurate, and interesting account of the near disaster that confronted Captain Lewis and his three compan­ions2 on July 26-27, 1806, at the site visited by the Girl Scouts and party. He comments about Wilbur Werner's " Paraphrasing and reciting from memory large passages from the jour­nal Meriwether Lewis wrote during the Expedition", and how he" ... was able to show th e Girl Scouts where the Lewis party first caught sight of the Blackfeet [Indian] raiding party. He was able to show the approximate place where they met and first talked and then where the Lewis party and Indians camped for the night."

To everyone a long on the tour, "All of a sudden, history was no longer a boring subject. Werner also explained why h e is sure that this was the site of the fight with the Indians. Again quoting Lewis, he told of the steep bluff we had just walked down; and the three solitary trees just off the river where Lewis, his party and the Indians had camped that night."

Elsewhere in the same issue of the Pi­oneer Press, in an editorial titled "Just Personal", Editor Haugland wi·ites:

I had some misgivings when I was fast asked to go on a Girl Scout tour of the Lewis Fight Site last Saturday . ..

But it didn't turn out that way. I had a ball First of all I had a good guide, I rode with Wilbur Werner, who was giving a guid­ed tour of the site to the scouts .. .

This was the first time I had seen Wilbur outside of his normal role as attorney dressed in a suit and tie. The excitement and pleasure he got from tramping tlu·ough the coulees looking for buffalo bones was contagious. And being a history buff myself, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the actual site

1. See also, WPO, Vol. I , No. 4, pp. 10-11. (By line story by Werner, with illustration and map, about the site.)

2. George ("Drewyer") Drouillard, Joseph Field, and Reuben Field.

Photograph courtesy Cut Bank Pioneer Press

During the trip, the girls' interest was aroused concerning artifacts in the area. Here, Werner is shown with some of the Girl Scouts examining buffalo bones, which are usually found in the draws and ravines in the coulees. He showed them a buffalo skull, and one very lucky Girl Scout found an almost pe1fect arrowhead earlier in the afternoon.

where Lewis and his party had that en­counter with the Blackfeet Indians.

I would recommend that if you ever have a chance to tour the Lewis Fight Site with Wilbur, take it. It is fun, you learn some­thing, you see more beautiful country, and there isn't a telephone to bother you for miles.

Members of the Foundation and the editor of WPO know a ll about Wilbur, wh o served our Foundation as our seventh president, and in so m any other ways. We're glad, Keith Haug­land, that you and your newspaper

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have seen fit to tell people everywhere about this fine man, and his interest in many people, the outdoors, natural history, Montana histOl'y, and the story of the Lewis and Clark Expedi­tion.

We Proceeded On, July 1978

The Expedition's Brothers: Joseph and Reuben Field

By Robert E. Lange1

In Captain Lewis's ''.A Roll of men who accompanyed Captains Lewis and Clark on their late tour to the Pacific Ocean ... ", which he transmitted to Secretary of Wm~ Henry Dearborn, January 15, 1807, the Captain provided these remarks with reference to the Field brothers:

"Two of the most active and enterprising young men who accompanied us. It was their peculiar fate to have been engaged in all the most dangerous and difficult scenes of the voyage, in which they uniformly acquited themselves with much honor."

Students of the Expedition, historians, and writers seem to be divided as to the spelling of the last name of the two brothers who were members of the ex­ploring party. The journals abou nd in a variety of spellings, more often with the added "S".

The earlier Lewis and Clark sch olars -Biddle, Coues, Wheeler, Quaife, a nd Hosmer - lean toward t h e spelling Fields. Thwaites denotes Fields in his index and uses the same spelling in his notes. DeVoto, of course, in his conden­sation of the T h waites' wor k continued the pattern establish ed by T h waites. C h a rles G. Clarke stays on middle ground with the connotation "Fields (Field)". More recent litterateurs of the Expedition - Bake less, D illon, Jackson, Cutrigh t , and Chuin ard - favor the spelling Field.

The editor joins the latter group and offers justification for this stand, as he assumes the others do, from documents still extant and of a n officia l nature, where correct spe lling for legal reasons, etc. s uggests greater accuracy. Dr. Don­a ld J ackson, in his Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, with Related Documents, 1783-1854/ reproduces these, and in every case the spelling is Field. The references in Jackson's volume a re as follows:

Letter 236, pp. 364-373 (specifically p. S67). "Lewis to [Secretary of War] Henry Dear-born, January 15, 1807." ·

Document 244, pp. 377-378. "The [Congres­sional] Act Compensating Lewis and Clark [and the men of the Expedition], 3 March 1807."

Document 245, pp. 378-379 (specifically p. 379 - both brothers have signed document). "Petition to the Senate and House, [after 3 March 1807]."

Document 248, p. 383. "Clark's Receipt for Land Warrants, 9 March 1807."

Olin D . Wheeler includes in his vo lume one, of two volumes,'1 a le ngthy ch apter

l. Fifth President of the Foundation, Editor, We Proceeded On.

2. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, 1962.

3. Wheeler, Olin D.; The Trail of Lewis and Clark 1804-1904, C. P. Putnam's Sons, N.Y., 1904, Reprint edition, same publisher, 1926. Vol. 1, p. 134.

We Proceeded On, July 1978

titled: "Organization and Personnel" and this provides readers with consider­able biographical information abou t the Commanders, Sergean ts, and many members of the party that was known in 1904 at the time of publication of Wheeler's books. His referen ce to the Field brothers, Joseph and Reuben, is b1ief, as the following will reveal.

The two Fields [sic] brothers, of whom little seems to be known, were Kent uckians and were "two of the most active and enterpris­ing young men" who joined the exploration, and "it was their particular fate to have been engaged in all the most dangerous and diffi­cult scenes of the voyage",' a statement that is entirely true, and it may be added that they justified every responsibility and trust placed upon them.

In 1970, Charles G. Clarke was able to pu blish considerable biographical infor­mation to augment Wheeler's limit ed data. Clarke's volume provides this infor­mation:

Private Joseph Fields (Field) was born about 1774, perhaps in Culpeper County, Virginia. He may have been a grandson of Abraham Field, Jr., who manied a Miss Byrd and lived in Culpeper County. One of the sons of Abra­ham was Col. John Field, born in Culpeper. John married Anna Rogers Clark,• an older sister of William Clark. Colonel Field served

4. The quotations used by Wheeler in his text, while not cited by him, are from Lewis's letter and enclosure of January 15, 1807, written to Secretary of War Henry Dearborn. On the en­closure which was transmitted with the letter, Lewis headed this document with the state­ment: "A Roll of the men who accompanyed Captains Lewis and Clark on their late tour to the Pacific Ocean ... showing their rank with some remarks on their respective merits and services." The letter and enclosure is repro­duced in Jackson, op. cit., pp. 364-369.

5. William Clark Adreon, a great, great, grand­son of William Clark of the Expedition, takes exception to author Clarke's biographical sketch concerning the Field brothers. In a copy of a July 7, 1972 letter sent to the editor (the original letter was addressed to Mr. Ivan Parker, who was at that time, Superintendent, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, St. Louis). William Clark Adreon wrote: "There are no known Field or Fields named in the Wil­liam Clark genealogy from 1620 to the present. Ann Clark (not Anna) , sister of William Clark [of the Expedition], did not marry a Colonel John Field. Born July 14, 1755, in Albemarle County, Virginia, she married Owen Gwath­mey and had twelve children, including twins, by this marriage."

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und~r George Washington in the Braddock campaign ... Another brother served in the 9th and 4th Virginia Regiments, and was present at the sunender of Cornwallis. John had eleven children, and our Joseph and Reuben may have been his sons, or the sons of the brother.

Joseph and Reuben Fields [sic] therefore may have been known to Captain Lewis be­fore their enlistment with him on August 1, 1803 - two of the very earliest. They were probably raised in Kentucky and each is list­ed as one of the "Nine young men from Ken­tucky". They se1ved the expedi tion as two of its most valuable men until discharged on October 10, 1806. Both were excellent woods­men-hunters and were usually involved in every duty of exploration and trust while on the expedition. Joseph was in charge of a small party which explored the lower Y el­lowstone River.

After the Expedition, Joseph received a war­rant for land located in Franklin County, Missouri. William Clark noted he was dead by 1825-28.

Private Reuben Fields (Field) was born about 1772, probably in Culpeper County, Virginia, a brother of Joseph, above. Much of the same biographical data applies.

After the expedition, Captain Clark recom­mended Reuben for a lieutenancy in the army, which suggests that Reuben was older than Joseph. Reuben also received a warrant for land in Missouri, but returned to Ken­tucky to live. In 1808, in Indiana, he married Mary Myrtle ... of Jefferson County, Ken­tucky. Reuben died in Jefferson County, Kentucky, his will being probated on Jan­uary 14, 1823.

T h e Field b r oth ers, t oget h er with Drouillard (Drewyer) were with Capt ain Lewis's side-exploration during the re­t urn journey in Ju ly 1806. They traveled nort h from the Great Fa lls of the Mis­souri to the Marias River, th ence up­stream northwesterly towards t he east slopes of the Rocky Mountains into what is now the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Glacier County, Montana. It was on this excursion that t he most northern point of the ent ire exploration was reached at their " Camp Disappoin tm ent", on Cut Bank Creek , a t ributary of the Marias. On the day after leaving "Camp Disap ­pointment", the skirmish took place with a party of Blackfeet Indians at a place that students of t he Expedition refer t o as t he "Two Medicine River F ight Site" (also on a tributary of the Marias) . Bot h

"Camp Disappointment" and the "Fight Site" are near present day Cut Bank, Montana.6 Lewis's jow·nal states:

... R. Fields as he siezed his gun [from the Indian] stabed the Indian to the heart with his knife - the fellow ran about 15 steps and fell dead ...

This is the only documented7 death in­volving the exploring party's contact with the Indians they encountered dur­ing the whole time of the Expedition.

Recently, the editor, while purusing the journals, noted Captain Clark's entry for December 24, 1805,8 where he acknowl­edges that Joseph Field, working at the construction of their Fort Clatsop winter establishment, had fabricated for the Captains, out of a hewn timber, the writ­ing desks for the commanders' quarters. Just as Clark indicated his gratitude for this added convenience, we might also be indebted to this Field brother, since it was on these rough, but usable, writing desks that much of t he documentation and cartography of the Expedition had its origin during the long winter months at Fort Clatsop.

6. The Expedition's "Camp Disappointment" and the "Two Medicine River Fight Site" have been alluded to in previous issues of WPO. See: Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 4; Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 10-11; Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 10-12.

7. Most of the literature wri tten about t his in­cident tends to indicate that two Indians were killed in the skirmish. Lewis's journal details the exchange of gunfire he had with several In­dians who were attempting to drive off the horses. Lewis says: " ... I shot him tlu·ough the belly, he fell to his knees and on his w1;ght elbow from which position he partly raised up and fired a t me .. . he overshot me, being bear­headed I felt the wind of his bullet very dis­tinctly." There is no definite statement in the journals that the Indian shot by Lewis suc­cumbed after returning Lewis's fil'e. (Thwaites; Vol. 5, pp. 224-225.)

8. Thwaites, R. G. (Editor); OriginalJoumal.s of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Dodd, Mead & Co., N.Y., 1904; reprint editions: Anti­quarian Press, N.Y., 1959; Arno Press, N.Y., 1969. Vol. 3, p. 289.

CAPTAIN LEWIS AND OUR DOG SCANNON

The illustration is of the 8" X 10" bronze created for, and

copyrighted by, the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage, Foun­

dation, Inc. The work of the internationally known sculptor,

Bob Scriver, the sculpture is limited by copyright to only

150 copies. Nearly ninety of the bronzes have been sold to

Lewis and Clark enthusiasts, dog lovers, art collectors, etc.

Individuals interested in purchasing this beautiful and unique

collector's item may write for additional information, price

quotation, and an order form to: Wilbur P . Werner, P.O.

Box 1244, Cut Bank, Montana, 59427.

THE FOUNDATION NEEDS THE CONTINUED INTEREST AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF LEWIS AND CLARK ENTHUSIASTS ON A NATION -WIDE BASIS. WE HOPE, IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY A MEMBER, THAT YOU WILL CONSIDER LENDING YOUR SUPPORT TO THE FOUNDATION. IF YOU REQUIRE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, A PROSPECTUS DESCRIBING 'FHE FOUNDATION, TOGETHER WITH A MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION, WILL BE FORWARDED PROMPTLY. ADDRESS YOUR REQUEST TO THE SECRETARY, IRVING W. ANDERSON, P.O. BOX 1405, LAKE OSWEGO, OREGON 97034.

WE PROCEEDED ON derives from the phrase which appears repeated! ~· in the eollecl i\'e journals of the Expedit ion: -

"this moniing u•e set out early and proceeded 011 ... "

" . .. wind from the S. W. Ll'e proceeded un ... until 6 oClucll .....

" ... the fog rose thich from the hollars tee proceeded on ... "

"We proceeded on with four men in front to cut some bushes ... ..

''lVe set out ear(v proceeded on past a lsla11d 011 th e S . S ide . . . " " . . . clouded up . .. W e proceeded 011 under a fine breez e ... "

-16-

Capt. Merill"ether Lell"is .. Jul~· Hl. 1805.

Capt. Wi lliam Clark. Ma~· 14. !805.

S~rt .. Jnhn Ordwa,\". June :W, 18(Xl.

Sgt. Pat1ick Gass. June 18, 1806.

Sgt. Charles Flo.wl, .June 26. 1804. p,·t. .Joseph Whitehouse. Ottober IO. J8(fj.

We Proceeded On, July 1978